摘要
To understand the response of marine ecosystem to environmental factors, the oceanographic （physical and biochemical） data are analyzed to examine the spatio-temporal distributions of chlorophyll a （Chl a） associated with surface temperature, winds and height anomaly for long periods （1997-2008） in the western South China Sea （SCS）. The results indicate that seasonal and spatial distributions of Chl a are primarily in- fluenced by monsoon winds and hydrography. A preliminary Empirical Orthogonal Function （EOF） analysis of remotely sensed data is used to assess basic characteristics of the response process of Chl a to physical changes, which reveals interannual variability of anomalous low Chl a values corresponding to strong E1 Nifio （1997-1998）, high values corresponding to strong La Nifia （1999-2000）, low Chl a corresponding to moderate E1 Nifio （2001-2003）, upward Chl a after warm event in 2005 off the east coast of Vietnam. The variability of Chl a in nearshore and the Mekong River Estuary （MER） waters also suggests its response to these warm or cold processes. Considering the evidence for covariabilities between Chl a and sea surface temperature, winds, height anomaly （upwelling or downwelling）, cold waters input and strong winds mix- ing may play important roles in the spatial and temporal variability of high Chl a. Such research activities could be very important to gain a mechanistic understanding of ecosystem responses to the climate change in the SCS.
To understand the response of marine ecosystem to environmental factors, the oceanographic （physical and biochemical） data are analyzed to examine the spatio-temporal distributions of chlorophyll a （Chl a） associated with surface temperature, winds and height anomaly for long periods （1997-2008） in the western South China Sea （SCS）. The results indicate that seasonal and spatial distributions of Chl a are primarily in- fluenced by monsoon winds and hydrography. A preliminary Empirical Orthogonal Function （EOF） analysis of remotely sensed data is used to assess basic characteristics of the response process of Chl a to physical changes, which reveals interannual variability of anomalous low Chl a values corresponding to strong E1 Nifio （1997-1998）, high values corresponding to strong La Nifia （1999-2000）, low Chl a corresponding to moderate E1 Nifio （2001-2003）, upward Chl a after warm event in 2005 off the east coast of Vietnam. The variability of Chl a in nearshore and the Mekong River Estuary （MER） waters also suggests its response to these warm or cold processes. Considering the evidence for covariabilities between Chl a and sea surface temperature, winds, height anomaly （upwelling or downwelling）, cold waters input and strong winds mix- ing may play important roles in the spatial and temporal variability of high Chl a. Such research activities could be very important to gain a mechanistic understanding of ecosystem responses to the climate change in the SCS.
基金
The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41076011, 41206023, 41222038
key program under contract No.40531006
the National Basic Research Program of China ("973"Program) under contract No.2011CB403606
